JD Vance’s Munich speech makes clear: Europe just doesn’t get it
Vice President JD Vance set off a firestorm in Munich when he chastised European leaders for their hostility toward free speech, their democratic deficit and their poorly conceived immigration policies.
Vance’s shocking words — and the prospects of American disengagement — were so traumatic, they prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to cobble together an emergency summit of European leaders, where the participants promptly agreed on nothing.
I do think Europe was right to be shocked — shocked that Vance took it so easy on them.
What Vance could have said (and probably should have said) was that Europe has had three years to coherently and resolutely respond to the unprovoked invasion by Russia but has failed. Europe still imports Russian oil and gas, funding a war that draws in billions in aid that could be spent on defense and investment.
Vance could have pointed out that weak, half-measure sanctions have not prevented the Russians from packing their missiles full of European parts (and some American parts); that European states have skimped on defense spending; that Germany insisted on closing its last nuclear power plants, increasing demand for Russian gas and raising electricity prices for itself and other countries; that Germany has refused to provide missiles to Ukraine.
As a topper, he could have pointed out that Europe has refused to liquidate more than $300 billion in frozen Russian assets, fretting over the legality and precedent set by doing so. One would think a nation that invades its neighbor, massacres civilians and threatens the stability of the continent would forfeit its rights, but that’s a logical bridge too far for the Brussels bureaucrats.
And if the serial incompetence of Europe were not bad enough, its ignorance with respect to American politics is the icing on the cake. Credulous Europeans, still thinking the world revolves around them, failed to realize Vance wasn’t really talking to them. Rather, he was establishing his own intellectual credentials and his political future with the followers of conservative thought leaders like Jordan Peterson and Douglas Murray.
After three months in the shadow of the omnipresent President Trump, the Munich conference was Vance’s first opportunity in the spotlight on his own. And he was not about to let it pass with some anodyne word salad. He took the opportunity to make it into a major address on the hot-button political and cultural issues of free speech and immigration.
While the legacy media and European elites were hyperventilating about Vance’s "gaucherie," they ignored many of his actual words. Quote such as, “If your democracy can be destroyed with a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn’t very strong to begin with,” and “You need democratic mandates to accomplish anything of value in the coming years,” are music to the ears of conservatives, even if they were peremptorily ignored by the chattering classes.
Naturally, the superficial, super-sensitive and supercilious Europeans played right into Vance’s hand with their vociferous criticism and Claude Raines-style outrage. It all just boosted him, more than making up for Trump recently throwing cold water on Vance’s prospects for succeeding him in the presidency.
But this opportunity only presented itself because of the way Europe deals with American politics. Never comfortable with American-style conservatism, European political elites have been undermining their standing with the American right and the Republican Party since the days of George W. Bush.
This has been supercharged since Trump’s first election. Be it the Germans contemptuously dismissing Trump’s admonitions about the NordStream 2 pipeline or filibustering his demands to increase defense spending, Europe has reacted very badly to Donald Trump, setting itself up for a sour time if he returns.
After going all in on former President Joe Biden and refusing to hedge its bets, Europe has now busted out.
The most egregious failure was (and remains) its opposition to liquidating Russian assets. The fact is, Republicans are sympathetic to Ukraine. In its Jan. 21 benchmark poll, YouGov found 68 percent of Republicans and 81 percent of conservatives consider Russia “unfriendly” or an “enemy,” while 70 percent of Republicans and 68 percent of conservatives called Ukraine “friendly” or an “ally.”
Europe is out of step with conservatives on China as well. Republicans view China as “unfriendly” or an “enemy” at 81 percent in the January poll. Yet Europe has been hesitant to support American efforts to contain China.
It is the opposite with Israel; 81 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of conservatives view Israel as “friendly” or an “ally.” Meanwhile the European-based International Criminal Court has decided to threaten Israeli leaders and military with arrest and prosecution, while ignoring Hezbollah and the terrorist paymasters in Iran.
Europe seems to be focused on alienating half the U.S. electorate — and it’s succeeded. Too bad they didn't side with the half of the electorate whose candidate is in power.
For far too long, Europe has coasted on the Cold War. Americans felt it was necessary to defend Europe against communist totalitarian aggression. The collapse of the rotten, corrupt Soviet empire gave Europe a peace dividend that it has completely squandered — and left the United States shouldering the main burden. Since the American electorate is generally disinterested in foreign policy and the fiscal burden was easily absorbed, Europe could shortchange defense and play its games on trade and security cooperation.
But those days are over.
The U.S. doesn’t really need Europe, and at least half its electorate has become alienated from Europe. The free ride is over, and the Europeans' low state is their responsibility and theirs alone.
Keith Naughton is co-founder of Silent Majority Strategies, a public and regulatory affairs consulting firm, and a former Pennsylvania political campaign consultant.
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